


Mochas and Demigods

by Lotus (Loki_Likey_Thor_Odinson)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: 18-Year-Old Nico, 18-Year-Old Will, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Autism Spectrum Nico di Angelo, Disabled Chiron, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 21:04:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8260492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loki_Likey_Thor_Odinson/pseuds/Lotus
Summary: Nico loves working in Olympus Coffee, a small cafe on an awkward corner, too far away from the university for people to frequent the place. Nico loves the little kitten that greets him every morning. Nico loves working for Chiron, the kind-hearted wheelchair bound man that gave him a chance when no one else did.Nico also thinks he loves the messy haired blond boy that comes in one time.Nico didn't sign up for this.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [queerpatroclus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerpatroclus/gifts).



It was 5.30am and Nico had just clocked in for his shift. The coffee shop was small, just a small cafe on a corner where barely anyone walked by, but Chiron insisted on a 6am start, bright and early for the university students that sometimes walked the long route around to the university nearly half an hour away.  
  
Nico always wondered why anyone would want to walk that half an hour, when instead, they could take a short cut two roads up and be there in fifteen minutes; ten if you biked or walked fast, and only five minutes in a car.  
  
But still, Chiron liked an early start and Nico didn’t complain. If he was honest, he liked the walk he had to start at 5am, when there was barely anyone else on the street. He liked the crisp air at the start of the morning, when everyone was either in bed or just waking up for the day. He liked the kitten that always came to greet him – and he enjoyed spending some of his pay check on treats for the little guy.  
He was pitch black, save for a dot of orange on the tip of his nose, and Nico had saved the little guy. A car had been speeding by, and Nico had seen the kitten, about to step out on the road. Rushing forward, he picked the little guy up just as the car had whizzed by. The kitten had immediately started purring, rubbing at his face, and Nico had smiled, gently stroking down the kitten’s back before setting him down and heading on to work. The next day, the kitten had streaked across the pavement towards him, purring fit to burst as Nico knelt down to stroke him. It happened every morning, and Nico had nick named the kitten Fizzy.  
  
Nico began setting up the small cafe, dragging the two tables outside to set up on the pavement, which he wasn’t supposed to do until five minutes to six, but Chiron would get here at six, and it was the one task Nico loathed. He didn’t possess much strength, and the tables were heavy to prevent them from being stolen. It took him at least ten minutes, where as he’d seen Chiron do it under five minutes. He didn’t know how, when the man was in a wheelchair, barely able to stand for five minutes on a good day.  
  
Sighing heavily, Nico managed to get the tables set up, before he headed inside for the chairs. Unfortunately, the door was right on the corner, and as he turned it, someone crashed into him, sending him to the floor with a yelp.  
  
Looking up, he saw a tall man, maybe not much different in age from himself, staring down at him in shock. He had a scruff of messy blond hair and he blinked down with deep blue eyes, before he leaned down to offer a hand. “I’m sorry about that… I wasn’t looking where I was going.”  
  
“No… no it’s okay!” Nico accepted the hand with a warm smile, suddenly knocked out of whatever trance he had been stuck in. The man helped him stand and Nico brushed off his uniform.  
  
It was a grey colour, but a nice one, the colour of pebbles when the sun shined down on them. His shoes were just black converse – Chiron didn’t care too much about appearance as long as Nico looked professional – and a black cap adorned his head when he cooked the food on offer to the customers.  
  
Nico smiled softly at the man – standing up, he could see he was merely a teenager, probably a university student – and stepped aside to allow him to pass. The man smiled and headed on, almost immediately sticking his nose back into the book he had been reading.  
  
Nico watched him go for a moment, before heading back inside to drag the chairs out and lock the door until five to six.

 

-xox-

 

There was a small string of customers at 6.15, all just wanting either straight black coffee or a white Americano. Someone ordered food, but it was just a sausage and cheese panini, and all Nico had to do was heat it up whilst they waited.  
  
Chiron had called in to let Nico know that he wouldn’t arrive until around 9, due to a hospital appointment he had, so Nico worked begrudgingly on the till. Chiron always worked the till. It wasn’t like Nico hadn’t been trained; Chiron had taught him for hours how to work the old fashioned till, but Nico’s dyslexia often caused him to give customers the wrong change, or tally up the orders wrong.  
  
So far, however, he’d been doing a good job, and only messed up once. Someone’s change was 56 cents, and he’d given then 55 in a rush to serve the next customer. Luckily, the woman was okay with it and calmly explained the situation and then winked and told him to keep the change before she left. Nico had smiled and dropped a cent into the charity box by the till. Chiron kept a charity box for the Latin American Disabled People’s Project – he used to teach disabled students in a school, and one of his favourite students had been a small Latin American boy called Leo. Chiron had told Nico all about him, how he had issues with pyromania along with dyslexia and ADHD, and Chiron had been his personal assistant during the small course he stayed with the school. That was why Chiron had chosen that charity specifically, and Nico loved him for it. Chiron was a good man, always doing fundraisers within the cafe for different disability charities, not allowing his own disability get in the way of it, and Nico loved working for him.  
  
The chime of the bell as someone walked in at 6.39 distracted Nico from his thoughts, and he hopped up off the stool behind the counter, smiling as sweetly as he could muster. He blinked a moment, staring at the boy from earlier, the one that had knocked him down as he peered up at the menu.  
  
When he turned to order, he stopped for a moment, blinking. “I didn’t know you worked here? I didn’t stop you from doing your work, did I?”  
  
“Not at all!” Nico smiled softly. “I come in early to make sure everything’s set up way before opening.”  
  
The boy smiled softly and ordered a mocha, and Nico hopped to it, filling the order quickly. He chimed it up and asked for $5.37 before he was met with a confused face.  
  
“The menu board says that it’s $2.65?”  
  
Nico glanced at the till and winced as he saw that he had rung up a mocha and sandwich before quickly correcting himself. He blushed as he mumbled the correct price and an apology, before taking his $3 and making sure he counted the change correctly twice before handing it over.  
  
“It’s alright. I mix stuff up a lot too.”  
  
Nico gave him a weak smile, watching him tip his 35 cent change into the charity box. “Thank you,” the man peered at his name badge. “Nico.”  
  
The boy lifted his cup to him and headed out the door, leaving Nico staring after him, subconsciously wishing he knew the boy’s name.


End file.
